At the event, Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc hailed positive results of the economy in the first quarter. However, he also pointed out six challenges that Vietnam's economy faces, with especially low GDP growth of 5.1% in the first quarter the main issue. Sluggish growth was attributed to low growth of the industry and construction sectors due to failure to accomplish set plans by oil exploitation and the processing industry. Exports reached nearly 44 billion USD which increased by only 6.7% in term of prices. In addition, disbursement of public investment was only over 12% of the estimate in the first quarter, lower than the 16% rate recorded in the same period last year. Therefore, he urged ministers to improve on this. He also said the two most important goals were maintaining growth and controlling inflation.
The prime minister underscored the need to adopt a thorough and flexible response to trade and monetary policies as well as closely track the economic restructuring, especially commercial banks, and improve economic capacity in terms of technology and management. During the meeting, he approved the land clearance plan for Long Thành International Airport Project. The head of government asked ministers to be proactive in work out policies to make the most of new technologies.
